The Storm have delivered an AAMI Park masterclass to down the Sharks 54-10, piling on the points with a staggering nine tries.
Cronulla’s display was labelled “embarrassing” by commentator Andrew Voss as the Shire side folded against fellow premiership heavyweights.
The first try came from Tui Kamikamica in a try that could be considered dubious after replays showed the front rower may have knocked the ball on.
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Voss said he “couldn’t believe” the Bunker didn’t intervene and rule his grounding a knock-on, but the four-pointer stood.
Next Cronulla scored their first and only try from a piece of Ronaldo Mulitalo brilliance, reeling in a bomb to find Teig Wilton.
From then on it was one-way traffic and Melbourne scored seven unanswered tries, with three coming in the final 10 minutes of the first half.
Harry Grant scored a double, running on to a Kamikamica short ball and barging his way over from the back of the ruck.
Xavier Coates then chimed in with a three-minute double, flying high to take a Jahrome Hughes kick before running on to a smart Cameron Munster flick pass.
In the second half, Munster once again orchestrated a try with an impressive short ball for Josh King who run 40-metres untouched to score in the corner.
Reimis Smith then bounced off defence to score a try before going off with a hamstring complaint.
While they were clearly going to secure two points, Melbourne weren’t done and went about tallying the half century, with Munster once again orchestrating the points.
He stuck his head through the line, finding Jahrome Hughes who scored under the posts to bring up 50 points.
Storm forward Christian Welch was also sent to the sin bin for a hip drop tackle on Sharks prop Royce Hunt who left the field with assistance from club doctors.
Briton Nikora was also sent to the sin bin for professional foul on Cameron Munster who was running through to retrieve a Hughes grubber.
Read below for all the key talking points out of Sunday night’s clash!
MELBOURNE’S BELLAMY RESPONSE
“It was putrid to be quite honest”.
Storm coach Craig Bellamy delivered a damning assessment of his side’s performance in a 45-20 loss against the Cowboys.
A response was needed and a response is exactly what the experienced coach got as his side ran riot at AAMI park, demolishing the Sharks.
Rugby league legend Greg Alexander wasn’t surprised to see the trio of Cameron Munster, Harry Grant and Jahrome Hughes stand tall.
“They’ve been dominant Melbourne,” Ennis said.
“They were putrid as Craig Bellamy said last week against the Cowboys, you knew there was going to be some sort of response,” Alexander said.
“Their key men were the ones who let the side down last week and they are too good a players to let that happen again.”
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HYNES’ AUDITION SOURS AS SHARKS ISSUE EXPOSED
Sharks halfback Nicho Hynes had one last chance to stake his claim to wear the No.7 for NSW but failed to lead his side to victory against the Storm.
Cronulla were massacred by a red-hot Melbourne outfit who piled on 34 first-half points while Hynes’ passes went down multiple times.
Commentator Shane Flanagan explained the Sharks were looking for their halfback to create a spark – but instead they failed to deliver.
“When you look for someone to turn things around you look at Nicho Hynes, but unfortunately today he has come up with a couple of poor decisions,” Flanagan said.
“They need one of their middle forwards to stand up with a big carry and get them going forward.”
Hynes is locked in a heated battle to start for the Blues with both Mitchell Moses and Adam Reynolds staking their claim.
Meanwhile, a damning statistic has been laid bare as Cronulla’s premiership credentials have come into question.
In five games against top eight sides this season, the Sharks have been unable to record a win and their latest display at AAMI Park will do nothing to quell the doubts.
“The Sharks, question mark over them against top eight sides and that question mark still remains… it is still there,” Alexander said.
Other statistics also showed how far off the pace Cronulla were, missing 44 tackles and completing at only 66 per cent.
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GRANT’S ‘BRILLIANT’ DISPLAY
Storm hooker Harry Grant has shown why he is one of the competition’s elite hookers with a “brilliant” display against the Sharks.
After running the ball once against the Cowboys in Round 14, Grant scored twice and was consistently piercing holes in Cronulla’s defence.
Legendary hooker Michael Ennis explained how Melbourne’s dominance in the ruck “ignites” their gun dummy-half.
“They are winning the ruck speed and that ignites Harry Grant out of dummy-half, from the opening stages he has been out and scheming,” Ennis said.
“The play the ball speed is far too quick when you have the threat of dummy-half, and he has been brilliant, Grant has been brilliant.”
Grant’s performance will strike fear in the heart of NSW fans ahead of the second game of the 2023 Origin series.
He finished the game with four tackle breaks, three offloads, two line breaks and a try assist to go with his two four-pointers.
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